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Public Works outlines countywide flood‑warning system, urges residents to use stormwatch.com
Summary
Public Works staff reviewed the history, scope and operation of the county flood‑warning telemetry system — now more than 100 gauges — and described how staff use real‑time data to pre‑stage barricades and protect roadways during heavy storms.
Public Works staff gave the committee a detailed history and operational overview of the county flood‑warning system and urged residents to use the public dashboard at stormwatch.com during storm events.
Lorraine, a Public Works staff member, said the program began after a major 1984 flood and grew from five locally funded gauges into an interlocal system now operated by Overland Park for the county. "This system is really an emergency management tool," Lorraine said, explaining that gauges transmit rainfall and stream‑level data via radio telemetry to two base stations and to a public dashboard. She said the system currently monitors about 115 gauge sites and that the city maintains and operates the equipment while Johnson County provides much of the funding under an interlocal agreement.
The presentation described how staff use thresholds on individual gauges to triage responses: green, yellow and red displays indicate percentile‑based recurrence intervals and prompt escalating actions. Lorraine said the system supports decisions such as pre‑staging barricades at known flood crossings and coordinating with police and fire for water rescues. "We start to be concerned that we may have an issue where we want to start getting our eyes on and putting up road barricades where we expect flooding to occur," she said.
Committee members asked about FEMA flood‑map updates and differences between city gauges and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) stations. Staff said countywide FEMA map updates are underway and will take several years; they explained city gauges are placed in known flood‑prone road locations to support immediate response while USGS gauges are used by the National Weather Service for broader forecasting. Staff also described limitations: gauges are typically sited at bridges or culverts (so trail monitoring is limited) and green infrastructure helps infiltration for lower‑intensity storms but can be overwhelmed by high‑intensity short‑duration events.
Staff provided seasonal context: to date this season the city reported approximately 18 inches of rainfall and several NWS flood watches and warnings; one event required barricades. The committee closed the item after questions about public use of the dashboard and interagency coordination.
